A study of reading comprehension achievement in a reading class

48
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Press.
Ajideh, P. (2003). Schema Theory-based Pre-reading Tasks: A neglected Essential in
the ESL Reading Class. The Reading Matrix, Volume 3 (No.1). Retrieved August
25, 2008, from http://www. readingmatrix.com/articles/ajideh/aricle.pdf
Alderson, J (1996). The Testing of Reading. In Nuttall, C. Teaching Reading Skills in
a Foreign Language (pp. 212-228). London: Heinemann
Anderson, N. (1999). Exploring Second Language Reading: Issues and Strategies.
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Brown, N. J. (1999). Reading Relationship. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company
Bamford, J & Day, R.R. (2004). Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching
Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Carrell, P. L. (2002). Interactive text processing implication for ESL/second language
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approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University
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Carrell, P. L. (2002). Some causes of text-boundedness and schema inference in ESL
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approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University
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Devine, T. G. (1986). Teaching Reading Comprehension: From Theory to Practice.
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Inc.
Elkin, J., Train B., & Denham, D. (2003). Reading and Reader Development: The
Pleasure of Reading. London: Facet Publishing.
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Eskey, D. E. (2002). Holding in the bottom: and interactive approach to the language
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Eskey (eds), Interactive approaches to second language reading. Cambridge:
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McCombs, B & Pope, J. (1994). Motivating Hard to Reach Students. Washington:
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Bangkok: Ministry of Education.
Nunan, D. (1999). Second language teaching and learning. Boston, MA: Heinle &
Heinle Pubishers.
Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. London:
Heinemann
Silberstein, S. (1994). Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
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Wallace, C. (2000). Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wiener, H. S. & Bazerman, C. (1999). A reader’s Guide. Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin Company.
Williams, M & Burden, R. (1997). Psychology for Language Teachers: a Social
Constructivist Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
50
APPENDIX A
Learning Activity Plan: the Story of Amelia Earhart
Course: Supplementary English (Reading)
Level: Intermediate (Mattayomsuksa 5)
Number of the students: 40 Students
Time: 2 periods (50 minutes each)
Date planned to teach: Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th January 2009
Objectives:
1) To activate students’ background knowledge
2) To motivate interest and enthusiasm for reading
3) To develop students’ self-monitor reading and recognition point of
miscomprehension
4) To help students reflect on and respond to the text
Students will be able to:
1) Brainstorm and describe what an aviator does
2) Predict what information might be found in the text
3) Analyze kinds of questions and answer them
correctly
4) Recognize the important information in the story
5) Construct a flow chart in order to identify and extract
important information
Skills focus: Reading a biography
Materials:
Reading handouts about a story of Amelia Earhart
Questions paper and comprehension sheets
Evaluation:
Worksheets:
Questions paper and summary sheets
Authentic assessment: -pair work
-group work
-participation
51
After teaching notes:
1. The teaching outcome________________________________________________
2. Sugesstions________________________________________________________
3. Problems__________________________________________________________
4. Things need to be improved___________________________________________
Steps
Language Content
Prereading
pilot
flyer
airman
Procedures
1. Teacher (T) states that Amy Johnson was a pioneering
aviator who made a record -breaking flights to Australia
and South Africa in the 1930s and writes a word “aviator”
on the board.
2. T asks students (Ss) who want to be the aviator in the
future.
fly a plane
Aviator
3. T divides Ss into groups of five and has them brainstorm
what the aviator does.
serve passengers
work for an airline
l
control
an aero plane
4. T lets Ss in each group tell their classmates what they
have already discussed.
5. T and Ss describe things that the aviator does.
6. T has Ss predict what information about aviator might be
found in the reading text.
1. T talks about the news that an American aviator saved his
passengers from the plane accident.
Whilereading
Charles Lindbergh
Amelia Earhart
2. T has Ss think about the famous aviators and tell about
his/her life.
A flowchart of the important events
in Lindbergh’s life
3. T shows Ss pictures of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia
Earhart and asks Ss about their lives.
In 1859, Charles Lindbergh was born in
Sweden family immigrated to the United
States.
4. T shows a flowchart of Charles Lindbergh biography and
lets Ss read.
On the 1st of April 1922, he began his first
flight as a passenger.
5. T talks about Lindberg’s life and explains Ss about the
usefulness of making a flowchart.
6. T distributes a reading text about Amelia Earhart’s
biography to the students.
52
Steps
Whilereading
Language content
Procedures
Eight days later, he took the first solo flight and
he rarely made the mistakes. At day's end he had
mastered his plane and learned flight under his
control.
7. T has Ss read the first two sentences of the passage
and has them underline the word that links the meaning
of those two sentences.
In 1925, he graduated from U.S Air Service
flying School and became Chief Pilot, Robertson
Aircraft Co., St. Louise.
8. T writes the words “later” on the board and tells the
Ss that it is a signal word for a text pattern called
chronological order or time order.
On 21st May 1927, Lindbergh lands at Paris' Le
Bourget airfield, becoming the first pilot to fly
solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
9. T has Ss look at the passage quickly and tell signal
words in the passage. T adds other important time
order words to the Ss.
In 1964, Lindbergh became a leader of
conservationist causes. He would later say, “If I
had to choose between planes and birds, I'd
choose birds.”
10. T has the Ss guess what is going on in the passage.
In August 1974, Lindbergh died of cancer at the
age of 72 at his island retreat in Maui, Hawaii.
Signal words for a chronological order
patterns
the first before until
in
on
after that continued next later then
the second the third
the last
finally
at last
Example of a flowchart of Amelia
Earhart’s life
Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1897.
When she was thirty one year olds, she was
invited to be the first women passenger across
the Atlantic Ocean in a plane.
After that flight, Earhart became a famous
person. A lot of people congratulated her
including President Coolidge.
Then, she wrote a book about her flight across
the Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.
11. T lets Ss read the passage in pairs and make a
flowchart represented the event in Earhart’s life using
signals words for time order.
12. T invites some pairs of Ss go to the front of the
class and present their flowchart to their classmates.
53
Steps
Whilereading
Language content
Procedures
In June 1937, Earhart departed from Miami
with Fred Noonan. They did not take any
important communication and navigation
instruments.
Twenty one days later, they arrived at New
Guinea and then left for Howland Island.
Unfortunately, the last communication from
Earhart and Noonan was on July 2, 1937. The
United States Navy conducted a massive
search for more than two weeks, but they
found nothing.
People believe they got lost, ran out of fuel and
died.
Post-
Three kinds of questions:
reading
Where is the answer found?
1. Right There (Literal) The answer is
in the story. It’s ‘Right There’ for you
to read.
2. Think and Search (Inferential)
Search for clues in the story and think
about your answer.
3. On My Own (Evaluative) The
answer won’t be told by the words in
the story. You must find the answer in
your head. Think: “I have to answer
this question on my own. The story
won’t be much help.”
Questions
1. When did Amelia Earhart begin her
first flight?
1. T distributes each S a paper written down questions
about the reading text.
2. T describes three kinds of questions and gives
example to the Ss.
3. T asks Ss to identify the kinds of question on the
given paper then answer the questions.
4. T and Ss check the answer together.
5. T asks Ss to close their handouts and gives the
comprehension sheets to the Ss.
6. T lets students correct the mistakes in the
comprehension by recognizing the important
information from the reading text individually.
7. T lets students tell the correct answers and check with
their friends
54
Steps
Postreading
Language content
2. What is the passage mainly
concerned?
3. Why Amelia Earhart was called
“Lady Lindy”?
4. Why did Amelia Earhart write a
book 20 hrs, 40 min?
5. What is media sensation?
6. What would happen, if Amelia
accomplished flying around the
world?
7. How was Amelia Earhart’s physical
appearance?
8. What did Amelia Earhart do in
order to support the women’s
achievement?
9. Who was Amelia Earhart navigator?
10. What did Amelia Earhart think
about her job?
11. When did people hear the last
communication from Earhart and
Noonan?
Procedures
55
A Story of Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1897. Thirty one years later, she
received a phone call that would change her life. She was invited
to become the first woman passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean
in a plane.
The flight took more than 20 hours – about three
times longer than it routinely takes today to cross the Atlantic by
plane. Earhart was twelve years old before she ever saw an
airplane, and she didn’t take her first flight until 1920. But she was so thrilled
by her first experience in a plane that she quickly began to take flying lessons.
She wrote, “As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly.”
After that flight Earhart became a media sensation. She was given a ticker
tape parade down Broadway in New York and even President Coolidge called to
congratulate her. Because her record-breaking career and physical appearance
were similar to pioneering pilot and American hero Charles Lindbergh, she
earned the nickname “Lady Lindy.” She wrote a book about her flight across the
Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.
Earhart continued to break records, and also polished her skills as a
speaker and writer, always advocating women’s achievements, especially in
aviation. Her next goal was to achieve a transatlantic crossing alone. In 1927
Charles Lindbergh became the first person to make a solo nonstop flight across
the Atlantic. Five years later, Earhart became the first woman to repeat that
feat. Her popularity grew even more and she was the undisputed queen of the
air. She then wanted to fly around the world, and in June 1937 she left Miami
with Fred Noonan as her navigator. No one knows why she left behind important
communication and navigation instruments. Perhaps it was to make room for
additional fuel for the long flight. The pair made it to New Guinea in 21 days and
then left for Howland Island, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The last communication from Earhart and Noonan was on July 2, 1937 with a
nearby Coast Guard ship. The United States Navy conducted a massive search
for more than two weeks but no trace of the plane or its passengers was ever
found. Many people believe they got lost and simply ran out of fuel and died.
56
Questions
1. When did Amelia Earhart begin her first flight?
____________________________________________________________
2. What is the passage mainly concerned?
____________________________________________________________
3. Why Amelia Earhart was called “Lady Lindy”?
____________________________________________________________
4. Why did Amelia Earhart write a book 20 hrs, 40 min?
____________________________________________________________
5. What is media sensation?
____________________________________________________________
6. What would happen, if Amelia accomplished flying around the world?
___________________________________________________________________________
7. How was Amelia Earhart’s physical appearance?
____________________________________________________________
8. What did Amelia Earhart do in order to support the women’s achievement?
____________________________________________________________
9. Who was Amelia Earhart’s navigator?
____________________________________________________________
10. What did Amelia Earhart think about her job?
____________________________________________________________
11. When did people hear the last communication from Earhart and Noonan?
____________________________________________________________
57
Comprehension
Directions: Reading the summary of the story of Amelia Earhart and correct the
mistakes.
Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1997. When she was thirty-one year
olds, she was invited to become the first woman aviator to cross the Atlantic
Ocean in a plane. Earhart was twelve years old before she ever saw an airplane,
and she took her first flight after 1920. She was so thrilled by her first
experience in a plane that she quickly began to take flying lessons. She wrote, “I
want to fly.”
After that flight Earhart became a popular person even President Coolidge
called to congratulate her. Her record-breaking career and attractive
personality were similar to pioneering pilot and American hero Charles
Lindbergh, she earned the nickname “Lady Lindy.” She wrote a poem about her
flight across the Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.
Earhart continued to make new records, and also polished her skills as a
singer, always advocating women’s achievements. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh
became the first person to make a solo nonstop flight across the Pacific. Fifteen
years later, Earhart became the first woman to repeat that feat. She then
wanted to fly around The United State, and in June 1947 she left Boston with
Fred Noonan as her navigator. Everybody knows why she left behind important
communication and navigation instruments. Earhart and Noonan arrived at New
Guinea in 21 days. The last communication from Earhart and Noonan was on
March 2, 1937 with a nearby Coast Guard ship. The United States Navy
conducted a massive search for more than one month but no trace of the plane
or its passengers was ever found. Many people believe they got lost and had no
food and died.
58
Questions
1. When did Amelia Earhart begin her first flight? Right there
____________________________________________________________
2. What is the passage mainly concerned? Think and search
____________________________________________________________
3. Why Amelia Earhart was called “Lady Lindy”?
Right there
____________________________________________________________
4. Why did Amelia Earhart write a book 20 hrs, 40 min?
Think and search
____________________________________________________________
5. What is media sensation? Think and search
____________________________________________________________
6. What would happen, if Amelia accomplished flying around the world? On my
own
___________________________________________________________________________
7. How was Amelia Earhart’s physical appearance? Right there /Think and
Search
____________________________________________________________
8. What did Amelia Earhart do in order to support the women’s achievement?
Think and search
____________________________________________________________
9. Who was Amelia Earhart’s navigator? Right there
____________________________________________________________
10. What did Amelia Earhart think about her job? On my own
____________________________________________________________
11. When did people hear the last communication from Earhart and Noonan?
Right there
____________________________________________________________
59
Comprehension mistakes
Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1997. When she was thirty-one year
olds, she was invited to become the first woman aviator to cross the Atlantic
Ocean in a plane. Earhart was twelve years old before she ever saw an airplane,
and she took her first flight after 1920. She was so thrilled by her first
experience in a plane that she quickly began to take flying lessons. She wrote, “I
want to fly.”
After that flight Earhart became a popular person even President Coolidge
called to congratulate her. Her record-breaking career and attractive
personality were similar to pioneering pilot and American hero Charles
Lindbergh, she earned the nickname “Lady Lindy.” She wrote a poem about her
flight across the Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.
Earhart continued to make new records, and also polished her skills as a
singer, always advocating women’s achievements. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh
became the first person to make a solo nonstop flight across the Pacific. Fifteen
years later, Earhart became the first woman to repeat that feat. She then
wanted to fly around The United State, and in June 1947 she left Boston with
Fred Noonan as her navigator. Everybody knows why she left behind important
communication and navigation instruments. Earhart and Noonan arrived at New
Guinea in 21 days. The last communication from Earhart and Noonan was on
March 2, 1937 with a nearby Coast Guard ship. The United States Navy
conducted a massive search for more than one month but no trace of the plane
or its passengers was ever found. Many people believe they got lost and had no
food and died.
60
APPENDIX B
Learning Activity Plan: William Sydney Porter
Course: Supplementary English (Reading)
Level: Intermediate (Mattayomsuksa 5)
Number of the students: 40 Students
Time: 2 periods (50 minutes each)
Date planned to teach: Friday 23rd and Monday 26th January 2009
Objectives:
1) To activate students’ background knowledge
2) To review and clarify new vocabulary
3) To recall and recognize text organization
4) To identify and extract important information
5) To memorize what have been read
Students will be able to:
1) categorize and discuss things related to an occupation
2) predict and discuss the meaning of the new
vocabulary
3) identify the signal words of chronological order
pattern
4) summarize the important events in William Sydney
Porter’s life
5) rearrange the events in the life story of William
Sydney Porter’s life
Skills focus: Reading a biography
Materials:
Evaluation:
Picture of William Sydney Porter, Porter’s biography, word categories
paper, and ordering puzzle sheets
Worksheets:
word categories, ordering puzzle
Authentic assessment: - pair & group work
-
participation
61
After teaching notes:
1. The teaching outcome_________________________________________________
2. Sugesstions_________________________________________________________
3. Problems___________________________________________________________
4. Things need to be improved____________________________________________
steps
Prereading
Language content
Writer
book pen pencil paper dictionary draft
Procedures
1. Teacher (T) has students (Ss) work in pairs and
gives each pair a paper written down words that
relate to occupations.
type imagination fiction nonfiction
pseudonym novel
short story
2. T lets Ss circle around the words that relate to the
occupation “writer”.
literature creative translate publish
3. T and Ss check the answers.
4. T talks about things that relate to the writer and T
has Ss discuss why they are important to the writer.
5. T asks Students about the famous writers in
Thailand and in the world.
1. T writes the name O Henry on the board and asks
Ss “Whose is this pseudonym?”
Whilereading
2. T shows a picture of William Sydney Porter to the
Ss whether they have ever read any stories of him or
not.
William Sydney porter
Key words of the passage
3. T gives Ss the biography of William Sydney
Porter.
1st paragraph
herding sheep companion incorporate
nd
2 paragraph
humor
venture
subsequent
indictment embezzle
3rd paragraph
guilty
sentence
4. T has Ss recall the signal words for chronological
order and has them find out the signal words from
this text again.
5. T and Ss check the answers.
6. T has Ss read the passage and underline the
difficult vocabulary.
defeat
emerge
7. T has Ss tell the words that they do not know the
meaning.
62
steps
Whilereading
Language content
A summary of the first paragraph
William Sydney Porter was born in North
Procedures
8. T has Ss read the passage again and then
has them circle only the key words that are
important to the main idea of the story.
Carolina. When he was young, he studied in
his aunt school until the age of fifteen. In 1881,
9. T discusses about the importance of key
words in the story.
he worked as a pharmacist and then he moved
to live in Texas to work as a herding sheep. By
10. T has Ss review the passage again and tell
the key words of each paragraph.
spending time in a ranch life, he wrote many
short stories there.
11. T and Ss check the answers together.
12. T lets Ss read the first paragraph of the
passage. After Ss finish reading, T shows Ss
the summary of the first paragraph.
13. T has Ss read and tell whether they still
understand the story or not when it has been
summarized into a shorter paragraph.
14. T explains how to summarize and a good
summary to the SS.
15. T has students read the rest two
paragraphs and has them summarize into one
short, clear paragraph.
16. T has Ss read their summary to their
classmates.
Post –
reading
Ordering puzzle
William Sydney Porter or O. Henry, was born
in North Carolina.
1. T has Ss work in group of four and gives
them ordering puzzle sheets about William
Sydney Porter’s life to Ss.
At the age of fifteen, he graduated from Lina’s
school
2. T has Ss rearrange the puzzle sentences
and correct some mistakes of sentences
according to the story.
In 1881, he was a licensed pharmacist and then
he moved to La Salle County in Texas
3. T and Ss check the answers together.
4. T distributes the questions about the story
to the Ss individually.
63
steps
Language Content
At the ranch, he works as a herding sheep for
reading two year, and his constant friend was Webster’s
Unabridged Dictionary.
Post-
Procedures
5. T has Ss answer the questions by using
information from the ordering puzzle sheet.
6. T and Ss check the answer together.
Porter gained lots of knowledge of ranch life for
writing several short stories.
Then, he moved to Austin for three years, and
his pseudonym appeared there
In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes as he
worked as a draftsman.
Then he changed to work as a bank teller for the
First National Bank.
In 1894, Porter wrote the “Rolling Stone”, and
later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post.
Next, Porter then fled to New Orleans because
the police stated he had embezzled funds.
Then, in 1898 Porter entered prison as a
defeated man.
Three years later he had his freedom back and
reborn as O. Henry.
After that he went to New York City, where he
published more than 300 stories and gained
fame as America’s favorite short Story writer.
Finally, he died in New York City at the age of
forty-eight in 1910. O. Henry’s stories have
been translated all over the world.
64
William Sydney Porter
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the
pseudonym of O. Henry, was born in North Carolina. His only
formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina’s school until the
age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By
1881 he was a licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the
recommendation of a medical colleague of his Father’s, Porter moved to La Salle
County in Texas for two years herding sheep. During this time, Webster’s
Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion, and Porter gained knowledge
of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his short stories.
He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first
recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of
calling “Oh, Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He
worked as a draftsman, then as a bank teller for the First National Bank. In
1894 Porter founded his own humor weekly, the “Rolling Stone”, a venture that
failed within a year, and later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post. In the
meantime, the First National Bank was examined, and the subsequent indictment
of 1886 stated that Porter had embezzled funds. Porter then fled to New
Orleans, and later to Honduras, leaving his wife and child in Austin. He returned
in 1897 because of his wife’s continued ill-health, however she died six months
later.
Then, in 1898 Porter was found guilty and sentenced to five years
imprisonment in Ohio. At the age of thirty five, he entered prison as a defeated
man; he had lost his job, his home, his wife, and finally his freedom. He emerged
from prison three years later, reborn as O. Henry, the pseudonym he now used
to hide his true identity. He wrote at least twelve stories in jail, and after regaining his freedom, went to New York City, where he published more than 300
stories and gained fame as America’s favorite short Story writer. Porter
married again in 1907, but after months of poor health, he died in New York City
at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O. Henry’s stories have been translated all
over the world.
65
Which belong to “Writer”? Circle around them
book
pen
broom
microphone
taxi
imagination
nonfiction
pseudonym
novel
literature
publish
photo
chalk
mop
songs
plane
pencil
paper
draft
car
pot
head phone
fabric
box
calculator
television
dictionary
fiction
radio
computer
clock
gun
children
cupboard
shelf
type
fire engine
flower
cap
truck
shirt
pump
basket
short story
mobile phone
pencil case
basket
66
Ordering puzzle sheet
Directions: rearrange these sentences according to the story
______After that, he went to New York City, where he published more than
300 stories and gained fame as America’s favorite short Story writer.
_______In 1881, he was a licensed pharmacist and then he moved to La Salle
County in Texas.
_______Porter gained lots of knowledge of ranch life for writing several short
stories.
_______At the ranch, he works as a herding sheep for two year, and his
constant friend was Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.
_______Finally, he died in New York City at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O.
Henry’s stories have been translated all over the world.
_______Next, Porter then fled to New Orleans because the police stated he
had embezzled funds.
_______In 1894, Porter wrote the “Rolling Stone”, and later wrote a column for
the Houston Daily Post.
_______In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes as he worked as a draftsman.
_______William Sydney Porter or O. Henry was born in North Carolina.
_______ Then he changed to work as a bank teller for the First National Bank.
_______At the age of fifteen, he graduated from Lina’s school
_______Then, he moved to Austin for three years, and his pseudonym appeared
there
_______Three years later, he had his freedom back and reborn as O. Henry.
_______Then, in 1898 Porter entered prison as a defeated man.
67
APPENDIX C
Learning Activity Plan: a Snowfall
Course: Supplementary English (Reading)
Level: Intermediate (Mattayomsuksa 5)
Number of the students: 40 Students
Time: 3 periods (50 minutes each)
Date planned to teach: Tuesday 27th , Friday 30th January, and Monday 2nd February
2009
Objectives:
1) To activate students’ background knowledge
2) To raise awareness of the processes involved in reading
3) To link the existing knowledge to the new information
4) To think about the information and ideas while reading the new
information
5) To identify important information after reading a reading text
Students will be able to:
information
1) brainstorm and link their knowledge to new
2) clarify and identify the purpose for reading
3) search for the important words and describe the
meaning by using their own words
4) draw a diagram to show a process from the reading
text
5) ask and answer questions about the information from
the reading text.
6) conclude the significant information from the reading
text.
Skills focus:
Reading informational text
Materials:
a reading text “A Snowfall”, A picture of Winnie the Pooh, and KWL
table
68
Evaluation:
Worksheets:
KWL table, graphic organization
Authentic assessment: -
pair work
-
group work
-
participation
After teaching notes:
1. The teaching outcome_________________________________________________
2. Sugesstions_________________________________________________________
3. Problems___________________________________________________________
4. Things need to be improved____________________________________________
steps
Language content
Procedures
1. Teacher (T) shows students (Ss) a picture of
Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
Prereading
2. T asks Ss questions about the picture.
Winnie the pooh
1. What do you see in the picture?
2. What are Pooh and friends doing?
3. What is the weather like in the picture?
4. What is covering the ground?
5. What is snow?
6. Have you ever seen snow?
6. Where does the snow come from?
7. What is the shape of the snow?
3. T distributes KWL table to the Ss and has them
fill out the first column “What I know about
snow”
4. T has Ss tell what they know about snow and
has them write what they want to know about
snow into the second column.
5. T has Ss tell what they want to know about
snow to their classmates.
Kay words
Ice crystals
frozen precipitation
reading atmosphere
minuscule nucleus
Liquid water droplets
moisture
snowflake
Words or phrases about snow formation
process
While-
1. Ice crystals in subfreezing strata supply the
moisture of present.
1. T gives out a passage “A snowfall” to the Ss.
2. T has Ss read the text quickly and has them tell
the topic of the reading text.
3. T discusses about the topic and has the Ss read
the passage again.
69
steps
Language Content
While2. A minuscule at the core of the ice crystal
reading condenses and freezes.
3. The ice crystals rob the liquid droplets and
grow continuously.
4. The process can be very rapid and quickly
creating sizable ice crystals.
5. The ice crystals adhere to each other to
create a snowflake.
Procedures
4. T has Ss underline the key words in the
reading text by using blue ink and circle the
words or phrases that relate to the process of the
formation of snow by using red ink.
5. T has Ss tell the key words and phrases about
the snow formation process to their friends.
6. T and Ss discusses about the formation of
snow together.
Diagram about the formation of the snow
7. T has Ss divide into groups of four and gives
each group a blank paper.
8. T has Ss in each group draw a diagram to
represent the process of the formation of snow.
9. T has each group of Ss go to the front of the
class and display the diagram to their
classmates.
10. T and Ss conclude about the detail of the
reading text.
Post-
Teacher’s questions
reading 1. Where do the ice crystals come from?
1. T has Ss work in pairs.
2. T has Ss look back to the questions that they
wrote before reading a passage.
2. What is a minuscule nucleus?
3. Why do the ice crystals rob the liquid
droplets?
4. What is a snowflake?
5. What is the normal form of a snowflake?
6. How can you see the shape of a snowflake?
7. Where is the source of moisture for
snowfalls of the Rocky mountain?
8. What are the other geographical features that
can supply the moisture for snowfalls?
3. T has Ss take turn to ask and answer questions
that they want to know about the snow.
4. T has Ss write down the answer of each
question into the third column of KWL table.
5. T encourages Ss to ask more questions about
the reading texts.
6. T asks Ss her own questions.
7. T has Ss write down additional information
that they have learnt from the reading text into
the third column.
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A Snowfall
A snowfall consists of myriads of minute ice crystals that fall to the
ground in the form of frozen precipitation. The formation of snow begins with
these ice crystals in the subfreezing strata of the middle and upper atmosphere
when there is an adequate supply of moisture present. At the core of every ice
crystal is a minuscule nucleus, a solid particle of matter around which moisture
condenses and freezes. Liquid water droplets floating in the super-cooled
atmosphere and free ice crystals cannot coexist within the same cloud, since the
vapor pressure of ice is less than that of water. This enables the ice crystals to
rob the liquid droplets of their moisture and grow continuously. The process can
be very rapid, quickly creating sizable ice crystals, some of which adhere to
each other to create a cluster of ice crystals or a snowflake. Simple flakes
possess a variety of beautiful forms, usually hexagonal, though the symmetrical
shapes reproduced in most microscope photography of snowflakes are not
usually found in actual snowfalls. Typically, snowflakes in actual snowfall consist
of broken fragments and clusters of adhering ice crystals. For a snowfall to
continue once it starts there must be a constant inflow of moisture to supply
the nuclei. This moisture is supplied by the passage of an airstream over a water
surface and its subsequent lifting to higher regions of the atmosphere. The
Pacific Ocean is the source of moisture for most snowfalls west of the Rocky
Mountains, while the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean feed water vapor
into the air currents over the central and eastern sections of the United
States. Other geographical features also can be the source of moisture for
some snowstorms. For example, areas adjacent to the Great Lakes experience
their own unique lake-effect storms, employing a variation of the process on a
local scale. In addition, mountainous section or rising terrain can initiate
snowfalls by the geographical lifting of a moist airstream.
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KWL chart
What I know about snow
I want to know about
snow
What I learn about snow
72
APPENDIX D
Learning Activity plan: The Anasazi
Course: Supplementary English (Reading)
Level: Intermediate (Mattayomsuksa 5)
Number of the students: 40 Students
Time: 3 periods (50 minutes each)
Date planned to teach: Tuesday 3rd, Friday 6th, and Tuesday 10th February 2009
Objectives:
1) To activate students’ background knowledge
2) To link the existing knowledge to the new information
3) To predict the main subject of the story
4) To tell the meaning of the important words in a reading text
5) To extract the important information and significant detail from the
reading text
Students will be able to:
1) identify the locations of American tribes
2) skim the passage and tell about the best title of the
reading text
3) categorize the subheading or subtopics of the reading
text
4) find out the groups of synonym and antonym in the
reading text
5) make a pyramid chart to describe the topic, subtopics
and detail of the reading text.
6) answer the questions about the reading text
Skills focus:
Reading informational text
Materials:
pictures of Native American, a map of the United States, word cards:
Ancient American tribes. a reading text “The Anasazi”
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Evaluation:
Worksheets: questions about the reading text
Authentic assessment: -
pair work
-
group work
-
participation
After teaching notes:
1. The teaching outcome________________________________________________
2. Sugesstions_________________________________________________________
3. Problems___________________________________________________________
4. Things need to be improved____________________________________________
steps
Language Content
Procedures
1. T has Ss look at the pictures of native American and
asks them questions.
Prereading
2. T asks Ss whether they know any ancient tribes and
what they know about the ancient American tribes.
3. T discusses about the ancient American to the Ss.
Questions
1. Have you ever seen these people?
2. Who are they?
3. Do you think they are still alive?
4. Did they live in our country?
5. Where did they live?
4. T attaches an American map on the board.
5. T has Ss look at each part of the United States and
asks them to guess where most of the ancient American
lived?
6. T has Ss divide into group of four and distributes the
paper written down the names of ancient American
tribes and the brief detail about their locations (each
group gets different colors).
7. T has each group of Ss compete to stick the names of
the tribes on the map.
An American map
8. T and Ss check the answers together.
9. T shows Ss a map of the ancient American tribes to
the Ss and talks about the American tribes.
Ancient American tribes
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Steps
Whilereading
Language Content
Procedures
1. T gives Ss a reading text and lets them guess
about the topic of the text.
The subtopics
1. people
Basket makers
Zuni
matrilineal
Pueblo
female
Hopi
chief
2. house
adobe
wood
pit
multistoried complexes
pueblo
village
subterranean room
kiva
chapels
3. agriculture
irrigation
harvest plant
grow crops
2. T has Ss recall where the Anasazi lived, and their
featured characteristics.
3. T has Ss read the first sentence and guess what
information will be in the reading text.
3. T has Ss read the text quickly and categorize the
subtopics of the Anasazi presented the reading text.
4. T has Ss tell the subtopic of the reading text.
5. T lets Ss read the reading text and underline the
4. crafts
basket
pottery
turquoise jewelry
textile
words that deal with the subtopics.
6. T and Ss discuss about the subtopics and the
content of the reading text.
Synonyms
•
construct build
•
agriculture crops
•
grow
•
house home village
community pueblo complex
organization
9. T explains Ss about the synonym and has them
find the groups of words that have the similar
meaning from the reading text.
•
matrilineal female
•
fighting conflict dispute war
10. T writes down the words “ancient and
advanced” on the board and asks Ss for the
relationship between them.
•
pit
11. T explains about the antonym to the Ss.
7. T writes the words “construct and build” on the
board.
harvest
8. T asks for the relationship between these two
words.
plant
woman
hole underworld
Antonym
•
ancestor
•
plant
•
ancient
•
under
above
•
men
women
descent
harvest
advanced
12. T has Ss find the groups of antonym from the
reading text.
13. T has Ss tell their friends about the groups of the
synonym and antonym from the reading text.
75
Steps
Post-
Language Content
Example of a Pyramid
reading
Procedures
1. T has Ss work in pair and gives each pair a
picture of a learning pyramid to the Ss.
Subject
2. T has Ss name the top of the pyramid with the
word “subject”, the middle with “sub-heading” and
the bottom as “detail”.
Sub-heading
3. T has Ss in each pair fill out the pyramid with the
detail from the story.
Detail
4. T walks around the class and gives advice to the
students.
5. T has each pair of the Ss go to the front of the
class and describe about their pyramids.
Questions
1. Where did the Spanish move to in
1500?
2. What are the other names for the
Anasazi?
3. Why did the Anasazi become the
advanced agricultural people?
4. What were the features of the early
Anasazi’s house?
5. What was the Kiva?
6. Who was the leader of the Anasazi’s
family?
7. When did the crops belong to the men?
8. What did the jobs that men and women
of Anasazi usually do?
9. How many chiefs were there in the
Anasazi tribe?
10. What did the two chiefs do for the
tribes?
6. T gives out the questions paper to the Ss and has
them answer the questions by using the information
from their pyramids.
7. T and Ss check the answer together.
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Topic: _________________
In the 1500's when the Spanish moved into what later was to become the
southwestern United States, they encountered the ancestors of the modernday Pueblo, Hopi, and Zuni peoples. These ancestors, known variously as the
Basket Makers, the Anasazi, or the Ancient Ones, had lived in the area for at
least 2,000 years. They were an advanced agricultural people who used irrigation
to help grow their crops.
The Anasazi lived in houses constructed of adobe and wood.
Anasazi houses were originally built in pits and were entered from
the roof. But around the year 700 A.D., the Anasazi began to build
their homes above ground and join them together into rambling
multistoried complexes, which the Spanish called pueblos or villages.
Separate subterranean rooms in these pueblos – known as kivas or chapels –
were set aside for religious ceremonials. Each kiva had a fire pit and a hole that
was believed to lead to the underworld. The largest pueblos had five stories and
more than 800 rooms.
The Anasazi family was matrilineal; that is, descent was traced through the
female. The sacred objects of the family were under the control of the oldest
female, but the actual ceremonies were conducted by her brother, or son.
Women owned the rooms in the pueblo and the crops, once they were harvested.
While still growing, crops belonged to the men, who, in contrast to most other
Native American groups, planted them. The women made baskets and pottery;
the men wove textile and crafted turquoise jewelry.
Each village had two chiefs. The village chief dealt with land disputes and
religious affairs. The war chief led the men in fighting during occasional
conflicts that broke out with neighboring villages and directed the men in
community building projects. The cohesive political and social organization of the
Anasazi made it almost impossible for other groups to
conquer them.
77
Ancient American tribes
Word cards
Cherokee
Blackfoot
Delaware
78
Anasazi
Chickasaw
Chinook
Natchez
79
The Cherokees are original residents of the American southeast region,
particularly Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and
Tennessee. Most Cherokees were forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1800's
along the Trail of Tears.
"Blackfoot" is the English translation of the word siksika, which means "black
foot." It refers to the dark colored moccasins the people wear. The Blackfeet
Indians are original residents of the northern Plains, particularly Montana,
Idaho, and Alberta, Canada. Most Blackfoot people still live in this region today.
The Lenni Lenapes or the Delaware were original people of the mid-Atlantic
area. Here are some maps showing the geography of the Lenapes and their
neighbors in New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania. Most Lenape
Indians were driven out of their homeland by the British. Here is a partial map
of the forced travels of the Lenape Indians.
The Anasazi were located in the Four Corners region ( Northern New Mexico
west of the Pecos River, southwestern Colorado, most of southern Utah, and
northern Arizona south to the Little Colorado River). The Anasazi existed
around two thousand years ago and are thought to be the ancestors of modern
Indian tribes like the Hopi, the Zuni and the Pueblo.
The Chickasaws are original people of the American southeast, particularly
Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. Most Chickasaws were
forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1800's, and their descendants live in
Oklahoma today. Some Chickasaws escaped by hiding or pretending to be white,
and the descendants of these people are still living in the original Chickasaw
homelands.
The Chinook Indians are original people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. They
live in Washington state. The Chinooks live on a reservation, which is land that
belongs to them and is under their control. The Chinook Nation has its own
government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country.
The Natchez were original residents of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Natchez
tribe was defeated by the French in the early 1700's, and the survivors
scattered. People of Natchez descent live in many different places today, but
most of them live among the Chickasaw, Creek and Cherokee tribes of Oklahoma.
80
81
APPENDIX E
Reading Comprehension Pre & Post Test
Passage A
8 items
Passage B
5 items
Passage C
7 items
Total
20 items
Directions: Read the following passages, and choose the best answer for each
question. Mark X under the letter a, b, c, or d on your answer sheet.
Passage A (1-8)
By about A.D.500 the Mound Builder culture was declining, perhaps
because of attacks from other tribes or perhaps because of severe climatic
changes that undermined agriculture. To the west another culture, based on
intensive agriculture, was beginning to flourish. Its center was beneath presentday St. Louis, and it radiated out to encompass most of the Mississippi
watershed, from Wisconsin to Louisiana and from Oklahoma to Tennessee.
Thousands of villages were included in its orbit. By about A.D.700 this
Mississippian culture, as it is known to archaeologist, began to send its influence
eastward to transform the life of most of the less technologically advanced
woodland tribes. Like the Mound builders of the Ohio region, these tribes,
probably influenced by Meso-American culture through trade and warfare, built
gigantic mounds and burial and ceremonial places. The largest of them, rising in
four terraces to a height of one hundred feet, has a rectangular base of nearly
fifteen acres, larger than that of Great Pyramid of Egypt. Built between A.D.
900and 1100, this huge earthwork faces the site of palisaded Indian city which
contained more than one hundred small artificial mounds marking burial sites.
Spread among them was a vest settlement containing some 30,000 people by
current estimations. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered at
Cahokia, as the center of Mississippi culture is called, include elaborate
ceramics, finely sculpted stonework, careful embossed and engraved copper and
mica sheets, and one funeral blanket fashioned from 12,000 shell beads. They
indicate that Cahokia was a true urban center, with clustered housing, markets,
and specialists in tool-making, hide-dressing, jewelry-making, weaving, and saltmaking.
82
1. What
a.
b.
c.
d.
is the main topic of the passage?
The Mississippi culture
The decline of Mound Builder culture
The architecture of Meso-American Indians
The eastern woodland tribes
2. The paragraph preceding this one most probably discussed…
a. the Mound Builder culture
b. warfare in A.D. 500
c. the geography of the Mississippi area
d. agriculture near the Mississippi river
3. In relation to the Mississippi culture, the Mound builder culture was
located…
a. in essentially the same area
b. farther south along the watershed
c. to the east
d. to the west
4. The Mississippian culture influenced the culture of the …
a. eastern woodland tribes
b. Mound Builders
c. Meso-American
d. Egyptians
5. According to the passage, the mounds were used as…
a. palaces for the loyal families
b. fortresses for defense
c. centers for conducting trade
d. places for burying the dead
6. According to the passage, how does the mound at Cahokia compare with
the Great Pyramid?
a. It is higher.
b. Its artifacts are more elaborate.
c. It is fifteen times as heavy.
d. Its base covers a large area.
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7. The mound at Cahokia was made of…
a. stone
b. dirt
c. ceramics
d. metal
8. Which aspect of the Mississippi culture is discussed the LEAST in the
passage?
a. The construction of mounds
b. Agricultural methods
c. Urban settlement
d. The forms of artwork
Passage B (9-13)
Magnesium is another mineral we now obtain by collecting huge volume of
ocean water and treating it with chemicals, although originally it was derived
only from brines or from the treatment of such magnesium-containing rocks as
dominate, of which whole mountain ranges are composed. In a cubic mile of
seawater, there are about four million tons of magnesium. Since the direct
extraction method was developed about 1941, production has increased
enormously. It was magnesium from the sea that made possible the wartime
growth of the aviation industry, for every airplane made in the United States
(and in most countries as well) contains about half a ton of magnesium metal.
And it has innumerable uses in other industries where a lightweight metal is
desired, besides its longstanding utility as an insulating material, and its use in
printing inks, medicines, and toothpastes.
9. What
a.
b.
c.
d.
is the main topic of this passage?
Uses of seawater
Treatment of seawater
Chemical properties of magnesium
Derivation and uses of magnesium
10. According to the passage, magnesium was first obtained from…
a. rocks found on land
b. great amounts of ocean water
c. the sea floor
d. major industrial sites
84
11. According to the passage, which of the following was a direct
consequence of the new method of obtaining magnesium?
a. The development of insulation materials
b. Increased airplane production
c. Improved medical facilities
d. The development of cheap inks for printing
12. According to the passage, why is magnesium important to industry?
a. It is strong.
b. It conducts heat well.
c. It weighs little.
d. It is inexpensive to produce.
13. It can be inferred from the passage that during the past fifty years the
demand for magnesium has…
a. declined greatly
b. remained stable
c. increased slightly
d. risen dramatically
Passage C (14-20)
Russian-born Max Weber grew up in New York, studied art there, and
then went back to Europe to familiarize himself with contemporary artistic
developments. On returning to the United States, Weber worked in the new
styles he had discovered in Paris and soon became recognized as a pioneer of
American abstract painting. An example of his work at the National Gallery of
Art in Washington, D.C., is a 1915 painting entitled “Rush Hour, New York.” Using
abstract and geometrical forms, Weber expressed the movement, noise, and
vibrancy of the great metropolis. The picture blends elements of two European
styles: cubism, which shows objects from a number of different angles of vision
at the same time, and futurism, which portrays speed and objects in motion.
Forceful line and spiky forms throughout the composition convey the energy and
vitality of the city. Weber expresses the city’s diversity by juxtaposing forms
with rounded and angular shapes to suggest specific elements of the urban
landscape: skyscrapers, flashing lights, and hurrying people.
85
14. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for this
passage?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Cubism
American Art
Works of the National Gallery of Art
An Innovative American Artist
15. According to the passage, which of the following best describes the
development of Weber’s art?
a. It began as a hoppy late in his life.
b. It gradually inspired diversity among his European contemporaries
c. It evolved as one of American’s earliest examples of abstract
painting.
d. It came to represent the first purely American style.
16. The painting discussed in the passage can be found in…
a.
b.
c.
d.
Paris, France
Washington
New York
Moscow, Russia
17. “Rush Hour, New York” was completed in the …
a.
b.
c.
d.
early nineteenth century
late nineteenth century
early twentieth century
late twentieth century
18. The mood of the painting “Rush Hour, New York” can be best described
as
a.
b.
c.
d.
depressing
vigorous
hostile
cheerful
86
19. According to the passage, Weber uses the style of cubism when he…
a.
b.
c.
d.
shows an object simultaneously from many viewpoints
portrays objects with geometric exactness
leave all human faces blank
represents all forms isolated within boxes
20. According to the passage, an element of futurism that Weber’s painting
displays is the…
a.
b.
c.
d.
impression of movement
inclusion of many human forms
portrayal of skyscrapers
application of forceful colors
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
87
APPENDIX F
Sample of students’ works
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89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
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